How to Make a Cheap and Easy Tent Ceiling for an Event

By
Tia Shamoon

Tulle is an inexpensive material commonly used in tent ceiling canopies.

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Tulle material is inexpensive and simple to work with. It is often used for ceiling canopies in wedding receptions, ballrooms and proms because of its economic advantage. Decorators save money by decorating with tulle and use the excess funds for other important features of the event, such as menus. Using a tulle tent ceiling for event decorating saves money because of the cheap price of the material and the fact that you can do it yourself and cut out the labor costs of high-end decorators.

Supporting Structure

Step 1

The clothesline runs down the length of the room to support the tent ceiling.

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Measure the length of the room. Cut a piece of clothesline measuring the length of the room plus 2 feet, leaving enough line to work with. Measure the width of the room, and write it down.

Step 2

A drill is used to create pilots holes in the end walls.

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Mark the center of each wall on the two ends of the length of the room. Measure 6 inches from the top of the wall, in alignment with the center mark, and drill pilot holes.

Step 3

The enclosed loop on the eye screw helps keep the clothesline secure after tying it.

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Insert a screw anchor into each pilot hole and then screw an eye screw into each anchor. Tie one end of the clothesline to an eye screw. Pull the other end of the clothesline to the opposite side of the room, keeping it tight, and tie the end to the opposite eye screw.

Step 4

Thumbtacks secure the ends of the tulle to the walls.

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Multiply the length of the room by two, and cut a strip of tulle to that length. Tack one end of a strip to the wall with a thumbtack where the clothesline meets the wall. Twist the excess tulle around the clothesline down the length of the room, and tack the end piece to the opposite wall at the clothesline attachment.

Tent Ceiling

Step 1

Tulle panels create the tent ceiling used for events.

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Multiply the total width of the room by three to determine the size of each tulle panel needed to swag across the room. Cut enough tulle panels to this size to hang down the length of the clothesline from one end of the room to the other. Mark the middle of each panel with a fabric pen.

Step 2

Small plastic clothespins secure the tulle to the clothesline.

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Drape a tulle panel over the clothesline at one end of the room to form a V-shaped tent ceiling. Line up the center mark of the tulle to lie parallel with the clothesline. Clip the center of the tulle to the top of the clothesline with a plastic clothespin.

Step 3

A staple gun attaches tulle to the wall.

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Take one end of the tulle, and walk to the wall perpendicular from the clothesline. Staple the tulle 6 inches from the ceiling with a staple gun, allowing the tulle to drape loosely between the clothesline and the wall attachment. Attach the other end of the tulle to the opposite wall with the staple gun.

Step 4

Follow the procedures in Steps 4 and 5 until all tulle panels are hanging over the clothesline. Gather the excess tulle hanging from each stapled wall attachment, and bunch it up to form a large tuft of tulle. Staple the tuft to the wall over the original attachment, and fluff the material to hide the staples.